A DWI is a severe charge with severe consequences. But what is more inconvenient than having your license suspended? Being able to drive is more a necessity than a luxury for most people, and having your license reinstated could make a world of difference. You should contact a Cabot DWI defense attorney for legal assistance. Whether you have a commercial driver’s license or non-commercial driving privileges, we can help. Let’s talk about the driver’s license suspension involved with a DWI. This is one of the most confusing aspects of it for people who are calling us.
With a DWI, two different proceedings are going on. There is court, where it will be determined if you are guilty. There, I will see if I can win the case, plead out as best we can, and keep you out of jail. But while that’s happening, your driver’s license suspension is being dealt with at Driver Control. Usually, we let clients deal with this part of it. After a day without a motor vehicle, you want to get your license. This is how it works in Arkansas. The moment you’re arrested for DWI, your driver’s license suspension will begin with Driver Control. You must go there to work out the temporary permit with the ignition interlock device and do those things. With a DWI, the driver’s license suspension is six months if it is the first offense. It’s two years for a subsequent offense.
Due to the complexity of a criminal case, you must contact a skilled criminal attorney with the resources, expertise, and abilities to support you in pursuing the desired outcomes.
And more often than not, it will take me longer than the six-month license suspension to win it, or it will be close to it. So we tell folks to go ahead and deal with the Driver Control side, get your temporary permit, get the ignition interlock device, and do all those things. Because over here on the Court side, if we’re able to win it early, all this goes away. If we’re not able to win it on this side, or we’ll have to play it down to keep it at jail time, you’re already three or four months into it. This means that you’re almost done with it. Or, you are done with Driver Control by the time we get court resolved.
With a DWI, you have these two different cases that are going on at the same time. We tell you to deal with this part because, in our experience, there’s nothing really we can do to help you over here. It’s a state agency, so they’ll tell you everything you need to do. And if you want to pay us more to do all that, we will. It’s not something in which we see the value.
Losing your driving privileges is inconvenient, to say the least. Some people would do whatever they could to get their licenses reinstated. The suspension notice is a literal thorn in their sides and a mark on their driving record. There is an appeal hearing you can do in front of driver control. From what we’ve seen, it rarely works. The standard is ridiculous. The hearing officer is favored. Vehicle owners are asked, “Did you have any reasonable basis whatsoever to pull you over?” We’ve done a few for free to see if it’ll work, but we’ve never seen one work. Occasionally, you’ll hear from somebody saying the other they won their appeal. And every now and then, a judge will grant one.
But even when we’ve watched other lawyers to see what happens with their filings—they lose it. We have also observed one lawyer who teaches a class how to beat it and perused his filings. They were rejected. Our advice to people is to get ready to deal with that six-month driver’s license suspension and understand that you have that going on. That’s something for you to take care of while we’re taking care of the court proceeding and trying to win the case. We aren’t pessimistic. We are just being realistic about your likelihood of reinstatement.
The Arkansas Department of Finance and Administration is very concerned about public safety and insists that you bear some financial responsibility. Oh, and be prepared to pay a license reinstatement fee when the suspension period is over. You can pay reinstatement fees online. If caught driving during this suspension period, you risk even more consequences.
In addition to dealing with your suspended license, check out some of our practice areas:
Due to the complexity of a criminal case, you must contact a skilled criminal attorney with the resources, expertise, and abilities to support you in pursuing the desired outcomes.
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